NOT FOR PUBLICATION WITHOUT THE APPROVAL OF THE APPELLATE DIVISION This opinion shall not "constitute precedent or be binding upon any court." Although it is posted on the internet, this opinion is binding only on the parties in the case and its use in other cases is limited. R. 1:36-3. SUPERIOR COURT OF NEW JERSEY APPELLATE DIVISION DOCKET NO. A-0375-18T4 STATE OF NEW JERSEY, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. KWESI DIXON, Defendant-Appellant. ____________________________ Submitted November 7, 2019 – Decided November 15, 2019 Before Judges Haas and Enright. On appeal from the Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Bergen County, Indictment No. 02-12-1567. Joseph E. Krakora, Public Defender, attorney for appellant (Monique D. Moyse, Designated Counsel, on the brief). Camelia M. Valdes, Passaic County Prosecutor, attorney for respondent (Christopher W. Hsieh, Chief Assistant Prosecutor, of counsel and on the brief). PER CURIAM Defendant Kwesi Dixon appeals from the May 7, 2018 Law Division order denying his petition for post-conviction relief (PCR) without an evidentiary hearing. We affirm. On December 19, 2002, a Passaic County grand jury returned a five-count indictment charging defendant with fourth-degree possession of marijuana, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-10(a)(3) (count one); third-degree possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5(a)(1) and (b)(11) (count two); third-degree possession of marijuana within 1000 feet of school property, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7 and N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5(a) (count three); fourth-degree distribution of marijuana, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5(a)(1) and (b)(12), and N.J.S.A. 2C:2-6 (count four); and fourth-degree possession of marijuana within 1000 feet of school property, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-7, N.J.S.A. 2C:35-5(a), and N.J.S.A. 2C:2-6 (count five). Defendant later failed to appear, and the court issued a bench warrant. Defendant was not apprehended until 2008. On June 26, 2008, defendant pled guilty to count three of the indictment. On October 3, 2008, the trial judge sentenced defendant in accordance with the negotiated plea to four years in prison with a two-year period of parole ineligibility. Defendant did not file a direct appeal. A-0375-18T4 2 In April 2010, defendant filed a petition for PCR, but withdrew it approximately six months later. Defendant asserts that he was deported to Jamaica in January 2011, allegedly as the result of his 2008 conviction. 1 On October 27, 2016, more than eight years after his conviction, defendant filed the petition that is the subject of his current appeal. In his petition, defendant stated that he was born in Jamaica and was a citizen of that country. Defendant claimed that an attorney, who had been appointed to assist him following his arrest in 2008 on the bench warrant, told him that because he "was a permanent resident [he] had nothing to worry about" in terms of deportation, and that "most likely [he] would be sent home on parole." However, this attorney was later replaced, and defendant was represented by a new attorney during the plea negotiations. This attorney persuaded the State to reduce its initial plea offer from a seven-year term with forty-two months of parole ineligibility to an offer of four years in prison with only a two- year period ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals